The two boys were born in New Orleans. The first was raised in the Garden District, one of the more affluent areas of the country. The second was raised in the Lower Ninth Ward, one of the more dangerous areas of the country. Both were high school football stars in New Orleans; both went on to play college ball. The first was a stud quarterback for Tennessee, going first overall in the NFL draft. The second was a stud left tackle for Southern Mississippi, but wasn’t drafted at all. But he signed as an undrafted free agent, bounced around the NFL, and now Chris Clark is the starting left tackle for the Broncos, blocking the blind side of, yep, the first man — Peyton Manning.

If the Denver Broncos are going to win the Super Bowl, it will be because of the New Orleans Broncos. Asked to describe the importance of Clark in his life, Manning’s simple answer actually summed it: “Well, Chris is the left tackle.”

The Broncos, as we’ve seen, can thrive astonishingly without their second-, third- and fourth-best players. This, of course, is due to their best player. And Clark blocks Manning’s blind side, meaning one slip up and Brock Osweiler could be starting for the Broncos. And, beyond the looming fear of a season-ending injury to Peyton, there’s the pressure of giving Manning enough time to thrive.

Filling in for the big-money left tackle Ryan Clady (out for the year), Clark did allow one sack in the third game. But in the most recent game, he was one of six offensive tackles to produce a 100 pass-blocking efficiency rating in Week 4, according to Pro Football Focus. I feel that Clark will continue to thrive because Denver’s offensive scheme benefits the offensive line, and because there are often short, quick passes.

“He’s done a good job,” Manning said of Clark, “and it helped him that he was the starting left tackle in minicamps, OTAs and training camp, so I know that’s paid dividends as far as learning the offense from a cerebral standpoint. And I think he’ll just continue to get better during the season.”

Most football fans know Manning’s story — shoot, his upbringing was recently part of an ESPN documentary. As for Clark, he was raised in the Lower Ninth Ward, “There was a lot of violence going on, but being the youngest, my brothers tried to shelter me. But it was a rough upbringing, and I don’t regret going through what we went through. What don’t kill you makes you stronger, I really believe that.”

After Clark starred in high school for McDonogh 35 — “He’s a Roneagle,” Manning informed the media — he went to Southern Miss, where he roomed with Damion Carter, who is also connected to Peyton because he too was a quarterback at Isidore Newman.

In 2005, Katrina hit.

“My home, it’s totally gone, Katrina wiped all that out,” Clark said. “Hurricanes happened all the time, but we always waited them out, and nothing that drastic ever happened. We lost a lot of things, man, significant things to me that can’t be replaced.”

Eight years later, he carries New Orleans in his heart, just like his teammate, the city’s most famous native son (no offense, Louis Armstrong and Mannie Fresh).

Visit denverpost.com each weekday near quittin’ time for a heavy pour of sports commentary from Denver Post columnist Benjamin Hochman. Care for another round? Find previous Happy Hour installments at denverpost.com/hochman.

Benjamin Hochman was a sports columnist for The Denver Post until August 2015 before leaving for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, his hometown newspaper. Hochman previously worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for its Hurricane Katrina coverage. Hochman wrote the Katrina-themed book “Fourth and New Orleans,” published in 2007.